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When the programmers make Ad-Aware (or any other program) they give the program instructions - eg. "open a new window on the screen".
Ad-Aware is written using MS Visual C++ so some of the instructions it uses need that - eg. "use function xyz from Visual C++"
Hope that's understandable...
If not post back and I'll try and explain again

Hi,
Can you check if the problem occurs in safemode.
If it does not then fire up device manager and check that the USB is enabled in Windows, that the drivers working etc.
It's possible in someway that the Ad-Aware driver is interfering in some way so if you can't fix it from device manager try uninstalling AAW.
Thanks,
GoddersUK

Hi,
We know that the problem occurs with Norton, Vista and Ad-Aware installed. Hence the problem lies within these three products. We also know that the problem appeared at around the same time - hence it was likely that it was caused by an update to one of these. We have been supplied, by one user, with a version number of the Norton update that they believe to be responsible - although as most of us volunteers don't use Norton we can't confirm this. It's also been reported that Malwarebytes suffers a similar problem - further indicating that Norton (or Vista) may be at fault.
Why the problem should only occur on Vista is not obvious to me (perhaps due to more stringent security within the OS?), but my gut reaction is that this does not feel like a problem that in essence is cause by the OS.
Ad-Aware *should* be built in such a way it can cope with being unable to scan the files and alert you at the end of the scan it was unable to scan (credit for this point goes to casey_boy) but for whatever reason it's not. Most likely because the Lavasoft developers never envisaged Norton taking whatever measures it is taking and hence not telling Ad-Aware to just ignore such measures.
Unfortunately just because Norton does not experience the symptoms does not mean it is not the cause.
We have asked Lavasoft for more information on this issue, but is possible that they won't be able to respond until after the weekend. Once the devs have uncovered the precise source of the issue they will have their own channels for reporting problems to the relevant people, if they cannot be fixed or worked around by Lavasoft. - be they at Norton or elsewhere.
I hope this clears the issue up a bit.

I'm sorry if I caused you any offence but the general rule (~75% of the time) is new issue, new thread - even if the issues seem similar. It is a real pain trying to follow several specific cases through when they are all in one thread.
The information I provided was neither vague or inconsequential - the scan dates problem is a known bug that the dev team are looking into - it's important that we tell users if somethings a known bug otherwise they may spend time trying to fix something they can't.
Similar reasoning to the lack of malware applies - except that I had the added reason to reassure him that Ad-Aware was working fine in the regard.
As the OP has been given a resolution relevant to him I am now closing this thread in line with board policy to close resolved threads.
Malprodigy - if you would like this thread reopened to continue resolutions of your issues please PM a mod.

Hi folks,
Just to let you know that we've become aware of a potential conflict between Symantec's "Norton" software and Ad-Aware, particularly on the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Essentially what's happening is that Norton is being a bit paranoid and jumping from fright whenever Ad-Aware tries to scan any of its files. This is confusing Ad-Aware which causes the scan to hang. We have let Lavasoft staff know and hopefully some kind of fix will be released asap (I can't promise anything though - especially as it appears that the problem is at Norton's end). It seems that Ad-Aware is not the only program having problems with this.
If this is affecting you and you are a Plus/Pro licensed user then I would advise you to contact the support centre for further advice, using the link in my signature. (I would particularly advise this as it ensures that Lavasoft have a good idea of how many users are being hit by the problem and a wide user base from which to compile data).
If you're a free user sit tight here and wait for further news.
I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you and hope it'll be resolved soon.
GoddersUK
Update:
The best advice that we can give right now is that this is a Norton problem and that a workaround is to disable the "anti-tampering" function within the Norton software if you wish to scan with Ad-Aware or another anti-malware program. This problem does seem to affect other software too, not just Ad-Aware.

The only insight I can give atm is that they still have not fixed that broken log formatting
As I said above though the problem seems to lie with Norton and Vista.
SDKController *may* have something to do with the MS Visual C++ (or is it #, I can't remember which AAW uses right now) that LS use as an "SDK" is normally a "Software Developer's Kit".
EDIT: But thanks for the logs
They WILL be useful for the devs.

There is more than one factor at play here.
The problem IS with Norton, as far as we can tell, but that's not the only common factor here. The other is that they are all (that I've seen) on Vista machines.
Hence the problem only seems to occur with BOTH Norton and Vista.
See the stickied thread in this topic for more information.

Hi folks,
Just to let you know that we've become aware of a potential conflict between Symantec's "Norton" software and Ad-Aware, particularly on the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Essentially what's happening is that Norton is being a bit paranoid and jumping from fright whenever Ad-Aware tries to scan any of its files. This is confusing Ad-Aware which causes the scan to hang. We have let Lavasoft staff know and hopefully some kind of fix will be released asap (I can't promise anything though - especially as it appears that the problem is at Norton's end). It seems that Ad-Aware is not the only program having problems with this.
If this is affecting you and you are a Plus/Pro licensed user then I would advise you to contact the support centre for further advice, using the link in my signature. (I would particularly advise this as it ensures that Lavasoft have a good idea of how many users are being hit by the problem and a wide user base from which to compile data).
If you're a free user sit tight here and wait for further news.
I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you and hope it'll be resolved soon.
GoddersUK
Update:
The best advice that we can give right now is that this is a Norton problem and that a workaround is to disable the "anti-tampering" function within the Norton software if you wish to scan with Ad-Aware or another anti-malware program. This problem does seem to affect other software too, not just Ad-Aware.

kayesbe - if you experience this with MBAM also then it's likely to be a problem with Norton, not AAW (or MBAM in MBAMs case).
In response to your question - if you're already running realtime protection you should keep Ad-Watch Live! turned off.

FYI
Issue one is known bug (I've been away from here for a while, but I'm not aware that it's been fixed).
Issue two is likely to do with AAW AEs different response to tracking cookies and is nothing to worry about.
Lin Yu, please don't hijack other people threads. This is not even remotely related to freezing scans.
Thanks, GoddersUK.

Hi,
Can you please go to Start>Run
type "Services.msc" and look for a service named "Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service". Please ensure that this service is started, and that it is set to automatic start.
Thanks,
GoddersUK

@fisherka - please try scanning with Ad-Aware while Norton is disabled.
@MartyS - I'm not exactly sure what you are trying to describe. If you state what the programming error is it can be corrected. Also, separate issues should be discussed in separate topics.
Thanks,
GoddersUK